Authors
- Zhitenev Alexander A. Doctor of Philology, docent
Annotation
The paper aims to explore and compare the semantics of phloxes and jasmines in Gennady Aigi’s poetry, to reconstruct the history of the poems «Scene: Human Blooming» and «To a Friend — About Jasmines Somewhere» relying on the poet’s archive. The research is relevant due to the poet’s drafts being introduced into scholarly discourse for the first time. The work employs the research methods typical for the Russian textual criticism and French genetic criticism; comparative historical and biographical methods are used to clarify the historical and literary context of the poems. The research relied on the most illustrative samples to elaborate on the artistic semantics of both phlox and jasmine. The research results emphasize obvious similarities in the semantics of flowers in Aigi’s texts, both phlox and jasmine are marked against any natural background; they reveal a close connection with the sacred, serve as mediators between worlds; appeal to the world’s essential basis and represent the divine order. The differences would hint on the shades rather than outline any discrepancies, jasmines are more ‘intense’ and are therefore associated with the idea of wounding and sacrifice, while phlox is phenomenological and they are associated with subjectivity. Jasmines are topological, correlated with the centre, while phloxes represent the flow of time. Phloxes would indicate the sacred rather than marking the space, while jasmines work precisely as space determinants. Both poems, which is a typical feature of G. Aigi’s ‘flowery’ texts, have their addressees. The poem «Scene: Human Blooming» is dedicated to Antoine Vitez, a French theatre actor and director, teacher, translator, while the poem «To a Friend — About Jasmines Somewhere» is dedicated to composer and musician Andrey Volkonsky. The practical relevance of the research outcomes lies in the possibility of using them in further research into the poetics of the draft in different contexts, as well as in studying flower semantics in the Russian lyrics.
How to link insert
Zhitenev, A. A. (2023). FLORAL SEMANTICS OF THE POEMS «SCENE: HUMAN BLOOMING» AND «TO A FRIEND — ABOUT JASMINES SOMEWHERE» BY GENNADIY AIGI Bulletin of the Moscow City Pedagogical University. Series "Pedagogy and Psychology", 2023, №4 (52), 7. https://doi.org/10.25688/2076-913X.2023.52.4.01
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